In-House Lawyer Needn’t Be Naysayer-in-Chief

“Lawyers are trained and expected to be the counterbalance and identify risks so everyone understands what potential ramifications are,” says Jonathan Drimmer, deputy general counsel at Barrick Gold. But, he says, lawyers can use their knowledge of risks to steer ideas forward, rather than simply pump the brakes. In many cases, Bader argues, the answer is to involve lawyers early and often in developing new initiatives and products. Bader is one of several in-house lawyers who outline a new paradigm for Christine Bader writing in The Atlantic.